Butt (volume)

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The butt (from the medieval French and Italian botte) or pipe is an old English unit of wine casks, holding two hogsheads (approx. (475 to 480 litres). A hogshead varied in size but today is most commonly 63 US gallons (ca. 238.5 litres), so a butt is now usually 126 US gallons or 105 imperial gallons.

How big a butt or pipe of wine is can also depend on what kind of wine it is:

Madeira or Cape Wine 

92 gallons or 348 litres,

Sherry 

108 gallons or 409 litres,

Brandy 

114 gallons or 431.5 litres,

Port Wine 

115 gallons or 435 litres.

The size of a butt of wine also depends on the country where it is produced. Typically, butts of wine produced in sub-Saharan African countries are bigger than those found in European countries.

Traditionally, a butt of beer is 162 gallons or 613 litres. That is three, not two, hogsheads of beer.

Tradition has that George, Duke of Clarence, the brother of Edward IV of England was drowned in a butt of malmsey, February 18, 1478. ^{[1] [2]} It was used in the short story "The Cask of Amontillado" for describing the Amontillado's size.

[edit] Footnotes

English casks of wine [1]

gallon	rundlet	barrel	tierce	hogshead	firkin, puncheon, tertian	pipe, butt	tun
							1	tun
						1	2	pipes, butts
					1	1+1⁄2	3	firkins, puncheons, tertians
				1	1+1⁄3	2	4	hogsheads
			1	1+1⁄2	2	3	6	tierces
		1	1+1⁄3	2	2+2⁄3	4	8	barrels
	1	1+3⁄4	2+1⁄3	3+1⁄2	4+2⁄3	7	14	rundlets
1	18	31+1⁄2	42	63	84	126	252	gallons (US/wine)
3.79	68.14	119.24	158.99	238.48	317.97	476.96	953.92	litres
1	15	26+1⁄4	35	52+1⁄2	70	105	210	gallons (imperial)
4.55	68.19	119.3	159.1	238.7	318.2	477.3	954.7	litres

English casks of ale and beer [2]

gallon	firkin	kilderkin	barrel	hogshead	(butt)	(tun)		Year designated
						1	tuns
					1	1+3⁄4	butts
				1	3	5+1⁄4	hogsheads
			1	1+1⁄2	4+1⁄2	7+7⁄8	barrels
		1	2	3	9	15+3⁄4	kilderkins
	1	2	4	6	18	31+1⁄2	firkins
1	8	16	32	48	144	252	ale gallons (ale)	(1454)
= 4.62	= 36.97	= 73.94	= 147.88	= 221.82	= 665.44	= 1164.52	litres (ale)
1	9	18	36	54	162	283+1⁄2	ale gallons (beer)
= 4.62	= 41.59	= 83.18	= 166.36	= 249.54	= 748.62	= 1310.09	litres (beer)
1	8+1⁄2	17	34	51			ale gallons	1688
= 4.62	= 39.28	= 78.56	= 157.12	= 235.68			litres
1	9	18	36	54			ale gallons	1803
= 4.62	= 41.59	= 83.18	= 166.36	= 249.54			litres
1	9	18	36	54			imperial gallons	1824
= 4.55	= 40.91	= 81.83	= 163.66	= 245.49			litres